{"id":171,"date":"2021-11-22T19:40:34","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T18:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denovaire.at\/denovaire2021\/?page_id=171"},"modified":"2025-05-30T11:47:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T09:47:04","slug":"esraj","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.denovaire.at\/denovaire2021\/esraj\/","title":{"rendered":"esraj"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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the esraj<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Esraj, originating in the 17th century is by Indian terms quite a young instrument. It was derived from the Taus, played by the Sikh, which is considerably heavier and has a larger scale. 12-15 resonance strings are mounted on a wooden rack beside the neck, wich holds 18-20 metal frets. The soundboard is covered by goatskin, like a banjo, a horn bridge transports the sound into its body and reverbates in the hollow inside totally up to the neck. It usually has one main string and three bourdun strings. The Esraj is played with a bow (gaz), the typical Indian \u201emeend\u201c and portamentos are performed while moving the hand alongside the strings.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Bendings, like on the sitar, are not applied. The Esraj has a sister instrument, the Dilruba. The Dilruba\u2018s shape is different, usually more square, the sympathetic strings are built in (like on the Sitar), surfacing\u00a0 the neck from below it additionally has four long sympathetics (tarb) with a snaring board under the main string and the bourduns. Esraj is played with a bow in sitting position on a carpet, but can be played on a stool as well while resting the body on the lap. Most players rest the neck on the left shoulder, others let the instrument stand freely, supported by the fingering hand.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div>

The Esraj originates in folk \u2013 and spiritual music and was used for accompanying vocal recitals, though some notable players have used it as a solo instrument in raga. Rabindranath Tagore, Indias prominent son, also made use of the Esraj in his poetic songs. In the 20th century the Esraj has become quite rare, nearly extinct, but is gaining popularity since the 1980s thanks to \u201eGurmat Sangeet\u201c, a Sikh Kirtan style spiritual music. Nowadays it is mostly found in Pakistan, Nepal and the Indian region Bengal.<\/p>

taken from \u201cthe esraj handbook\u201d, denovaire 2016<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Das indische Streichinstrument Esraj (esraadsch) bietet einen wunderbaren weiten und obertonreichen Klang \u2013 geeignet sowohl f\u00fcr klassisch indische Musik, asiatische Volksmusik und Worldmusic als auch moderne, avantgardistische und experimentelle Interpretationen. Die Esraj wird auf einer Hauptsaite gespielt, besitzt drei Bordunsaiten und erzeugt mit 15 Resonanzsaiten einen sch\u00f6nen Hallraum. Sie erinnert an die indische, weitaus popul\u00e4rere Sarangi, vorallem in den H\u00f6hen, unterscheidet sich aber sehr in der Spieltechnik.

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Der Korpus ist mit Ziegenfell \u00fcberzogen, wie ein Banjo und \u00fcber einen Horn-Steg wird der Sound bis in den hohlen Hals des Instrumentes transportiert. Die Esraj stammt aus Bengalen und wird auch oft in Nepal und Pakistan gespielt. Sie fand Eingang in die Lieder und Kompositionen des indischen Poeten Rabindranath Tagore. Heute gibt es nur sehr wenige klassisch indische Esrajmusiker und auch im Westen ist das Instrument nahezu v\u00f6llig unbekannt.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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the handbook<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAfter ten years of experimenting, studying and performing esraj, I decided to write a little handbook for the aspiring student and interested music lover.
The \u201cEsraj Handbook\u201d can be downloaded here.\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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the esraj https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nAQ_qxJfamU The Esraj, originating in the 17th century is by Indian terms quite a young instrument. It was derived from the Taus, played by the Sikh, which is considerably heavier and has a larger scale. 12-15 resonance strings are mounted on a wooden rack beside the neck, wich holds 18-20 metal frets. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-171","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nesraj - denovaire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.denovaire.at\/denovaire2021\/esraj\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"esraj - denovaire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"the esraj https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nAQ_qxJfamU The Esraj, originating in the 17th century is by Indian terms quite a young instrument. It was derived from the Taus, played by the Sikh, which is considerably heavier and has a larger scale. 12-15 resonance strings are mounted on a wooden rack beside the neck, wich holds 18-20 metal frets. The […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.denovaire.at\/denovaire2021\/esraj\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"denovaire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/denovaire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-30T09:47:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.denovaire.at\/denovaire2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/volker-geburtstag_millstattersee_mirjam.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/esraj\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/esraj\\\/\",\"name\":\"esraj - denovaire\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/esraj\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/esraj\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/volker-geburtstag_millstattersee_mirjam.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-22T18:40:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-30T09:47:04+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/esraj\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/esraj\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/esraj\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/volker-geburtstag_millstattersee_mirjam.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/volker-geburtstag_millstattersee_mirjam.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"denovaire playing the esraj\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/esraj\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"esraj\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/\",\"name\":\"denovaire\",\"description\":\"denovaires artist site\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"denovaire\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/model01.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/model01.jpg\",\"width\":868,\"height\":419,\"caption\":\"denovaire\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.denovaire.at\\\/denovaire2021\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/denovaire\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCM9vcmXfXNXafjqDa14l72A\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"esraj - denovaire","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.denovaire.at\/denovaire2021\/esraj\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"esraj - denovaire","og_description":"the esraj https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nAQ_qxJfamU The Esraj, originating in the 17th century is by Indian terms quite a young instrument. 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